Often, commercial or private aircraft provide passengers and crew a galley or kitchen for food preparation and cleanup. Because of the limited physical space available for use on an aircraft, relatively little physical space may be allocated for use as a galley. Any galley equipment for food preparation or disposal must be designed to economize on the amount of space and weight used. In addition, such food preparation or disposal equipment must be safe and secure during operation in-flight.
Conventional aircraft trash compactors tend to use a large amount of space under the counter within the galley, thereby reducing the total volume of space available for stored food, or for devices for food storage, preparation or disposal.